Be quiet, and come out of him!

Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.  Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.  And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone!   What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst,
 it came out of him and did not hurt him.  Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

- Luke 4:31-37

In yesterday's reading, Jesus had begun His Galilean ministry after being tempted in the wilderness.  We read that Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region.  And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.  So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.  And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah.  And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:  "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to he blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.  And they said, "Is not this Joseph's son?"  He said to them, "You will surely say this proverb to Me, 'Physician, heal yourself!  Whatever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.'"  Then He said, "Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.  But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.  And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian."  So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.  Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

 Then He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths.  My study bible tells us that Capernaum was a major city on the northern shore of the Lake of Galilee.  This will function as His Galilean ministry headquarters.  We note the ministry:  His habit is to teach on the Sabbaths in the synagogue, just as in yesterday's reading He was in the synagogue in Nazareth.

And they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority.   Again, the Gospel reflects on yesterday's reading.  There, His neighbors from His hometown of Nazareth could not take in the gracious words from the one who was the son of Joseph the carpenter.  Here, His authority is also astonishing.  My study bible says that "Jesus derives His authority from His messianic identity -- unlike the scribes and Pharisees, who claim authority because of their academic credentials as teachers of the Law."

Now in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon.  And he cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Let us alone!   What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"   My study bible notes that "the demon and the possessed man speak in the plural we, expressing their fear before the divine presence of Jesus.  The demon recognizes Jesus as the Holy One of God, but is rebuked for his hostile boldness."

But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the demon had thrown him in their midst, it came out of him and did not hurt him.  Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, "What a word this is!  For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out."  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region.  Yesterday, we read about the gracious words that came from Jesus' mouth.  In today's reading, we get another example of "gracious words" for these are words of healing by the authority of God.  It is yet another example of God's "condescending" to be with us, an effect of His word and of His authority.  My study bible notes that there are many ways in which we will witness Jesus healing in the Gospels:  through touch, through the power of His word, and other various methods.  But, it says, "all of Christ's miracles manifest His redemptive ministry on behalf of ailing humanity."

Jesus' rebuke today causes a healing; it is a correction.  In effect, it's microcosm of His ministry into the world:  He is here to heal what afflicts us, and to remove the presence of the "strong man" or "ruler of this world" because He is the stronger.  His mission is one of love; He is here to bind up what ails us and afflicts us.  As the word from Isaiah said, which Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth in yesterday's reading, "To proclaim liberty to the captives" . . . and "to set at liberty those who are oppressed."  This He will do in a number of ways.  It instructs us to take a look at the episode of this demon cast out in the synagogue in Capernaum, and the fear with which both the demon and the man (in the plural "we") respond to Christ.  He is there to heal, but when we are bound and afflicted by something oppressive our sight's not quite right.  We can't see what afflicts us, and may be so bound by what ails us that our perspective is also that of sickness.  Fear is like this.  If we fear a rebuke from a loving Lord then we have to consider why we would fear love.  To be healed isn't always an easy nor simple journey.  Many times we can't really see what ails us, and we see from the perspective of the illness and affliction, like the known psychological syndrome in which someone who's a captive comes to see things from the perspective of his or her captors.  In this way Christ also fulfills the words of Isaiah, proclaiming "recovery of sight to he blind."  Let us remember that a rebuke from a loving Lord isn't to be feared; it's likened to a medical procedure that may entail something unpleasant but in the end is necessary for good health and restoration and for enjoyment of life.  Today's lectionary reading also contains a key passage from the First Epistle of John, perfectly relevant to today's Gospel reading:  "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love" (1 John 4:18).  Let us not fear the loving correction of God, which may come to us in many ways, especially through prayer and a willing heart open to God's love and the personal change Christ calls us to.